when Abraham Lincoln was present. The President was so charmed with the song that he requested that it be repeated.

Hiding in Thee

Words by William O. Cushing

Music by Ira D. Sankey

"O safe to the Rock that is higher than I,

My soul in its conflicts and sorrows would fly.”

"Hiding in Thee' was written in Moravia, New York, in 1876," writes Mr. Cushing. "It must be said of this hymn that it was the outgrowth of many tears, many heart-conflicts and soul-yearnings, of which the world can know nothing. The history of many battles is behind it. But the occasion which gave it being was the call of Mr. Sankey. He said: ' Send me something new to help me in my Gospel work.' A call from such a source, and for such a purpose, seemed a call from God. I so regarded it, and prayed: 'Lord, give me something that may glorify Thee.' It was while thus waiting that Hiding in Thee' pressed to make itself known. Mr. Sankey called forth the tune, and by his genius gave the hymn wings, making it useful in the Master's work."

Ho! Reapers of Life's Harvest

Words by I. B. Woodbury

Music by I. B. Woodbury

"Ho! reapeis of life's harvest,

Why stand with rusted blade?"

President Garfield was fond of this hymn, and it was sung at his funeral. In addressing an audience of

800

young people on one occasion, Garfield sa stance, regarding his own conversion:

"Make the most of the present mom occasion is unworthy of our best efforts. uses humble occasions and little things to course of a man's life. I might say that th of a certain pair of stockings led to a compl in my life. I had made a trip as a boy on a and was expecting to leave home for anothe I accidentally injured my foot in chopping w blue dye in my home-made socks poisoned and I was kept at home. A revival broke while in the neighborhood, and I was thus its influence and was converted. New desir purposes then took possession of me, and termined to seek an education in order th live more usefully for Christ."

It is said that this hymn has been the the conversion of thousands of souls in Au Great Britain.

Hold the Fort

Words by P. P. Bliss

Mus

"Ho! my comrades, see the signal Waving in the sky!"

Just before Sherman began his famou the sea in 1864, and while his army lay cam neighborhood of Atlanta on the 5th of O army of Hood, in a carefully prepared passed the right flank of Sherman's army, rear, and commenced the destruction of t

leading north, burning blockhouses and capturing the small garrisons along the line. Sherman's army was put in rapid motion pursuing Hood, to save the supplies and larger posts, the principal one of which was located at Altoona Pass. General Corse, of Illinois, was stationed here with about fifteen hundred men, Colonel Tourtelotte being second in command. A million and a half of rations were stored here and it was highly important that the earthworks commanding the pass and protecting the supplies should be held. Six thousand men under command of General French were detailed by Hood to take the position. The works were completely surrounded and summoned to surrender. Corse refused and a sharp fight commenced. The defenders were slowly driven into a small fort on the crest of the hill. Many had fallen, and the result seemed to render a prolongation of the fight hopeless. At this moment an officer caught sight of a white signal flag far away across the valley, twenty miles distant, upon the top of Kenesaw Mountain. The signal was answered, and soon the message was waved across from mountain to mountain:

66

'Hold the fort; I am coming. W. T. Sherman.” Cheers went up; every man was nerved to a full appreciation of the position; and under a murderous. fire, which killed or wounded more than half the men in the fort-Corse himself being shot three times through the head, and Tourtelotte taking command, though himself badly wounded-they held the fort for three hours until the advance guard of Sherman's army came up. French was obliged to retreat.

This historical incident was related by Major

Whittle at a Sunday-school meeting in Roc nois, in May, 1870. Mr. Bliss was presen song "Hold the Fort" was at once born in The next day Whittle and Bliss held a mee Young Men's Christian Association rooms i Bliss went on the platform and wrote the this hymn on the blackboard. He there sang for the first time in public, and the audienc the chorus. Soon after he had it publishe form.

Mr. Bliss said to me once, not long death, that he hoped that he would not be posterity only as the author of "Hold the Fo believed that he had written many better so ever, when I attended the dedication of the B ment, at Rome, Pennsylvania, I found the inscribed:

The pine tree from which Sherman's flown was cut down a few years after the was made into souvenirs, I receiving a b which to lead my choirs.

"Hold the Fort" was used frequent meetings in Great Britain during 1873 Shaftesbury said at our farewell meeting in "If Mr. Sankey has done no more than teac ple to sing Hold the Fort,' he has conferred mable blessing on the British empire."

On a trip to Switzerland, in 1879, I sto